Right now, unwanted pharmaceuticals pile up in medicine cabinets or get chucked in the waterways because people don’t know how else to properly get rid of them. SB 1014, introduced by Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), would require medicine-makers to establish what the bill calls a product stewardship program.

“Serious social and environmental problems persist as pharmaceuticals are banned from solid waste disposal sites without corresponding safe and convenient disposal options made available to consumers,” reads a city memo signed off by Environmental Services Director Kerrie Romanow. “One example of a social problem resulting from the lack of proper disposal options is the stockpiling of unused medications in the home, which can contribute to accidental poisoning among children, drug abuse and other accidental drug-related deaths.”

Unused meds flushed down toilets or dumped down drains also leach into the groundwater supply and pollute our drinking water, she adds.

“Pharmaceuticals are identified as a pollutant of emerging concern by state water quality regulators,” Romanow says.